Lewis and Clark Caverns

Lewis and Clark Caverns is a State Park located in Jefferson County, Montana. The primary feature of the park is its namesake cavern.

The cavern was discovered in 1895 by D. A. Morrison. The site was first established as "Lewis and Clark Cavern National Monument" on May 11, 1908, but was not fully surveyed and declared until May 16, 1911 by President Taft as 160 acres. The limestone cave is named after the explorers Meriwether Lewis and William Clark since the cavern overlooks over 50 miles of the trail from the Lewis and Clark Expedition along the Jefferson River, although Lewis and Clark never saw the cavern. It is located approximately 45 miles west of Bozeman, Montana, and 60 miles northwest from the northwest corner of Yellowstone National Park.

The caverns are also notable in that much of the work done to make the cave system accessible to tourists was performed by the New Deal-era Civilian Conservation Corps.

It was disbanded as a national monument on August 24, 1937, and transferred to the state of Montana. The site was formally dedicated as a state park in 1941.

Tours at the cavern are offered approximately every 20 minutes. While the tour is suitable for all ages, some discretion is advised for the young, the elderly, or those with medical conditions, as a 3/4 mile uphill walk is required to access the cavern entrance and some of the tour involves stooping and navigating perilous (and sometimes wet) stairways.

Geology

Lewis and Clark Caverns was dissolved by slightly acid groundwater in tilted beds of the Madison Limestone of Mississippian age. Most of the cave was probably excavated during the ice ages, a time of much greater water supply than today. [Roadside Geology of Montana, by David Alt and Donald W. Hyndman, Mountain Press Publishing Co., 1988, p. 179-180]

References

External links

* [http://fwp.mt.gov/lands/site_281895.aspx Lewis and Clark Caverns State Park]
* [http://fwp.mt.gov/news/article_980.aspx History of Lewis and Clark Caverns - Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks]